A computing environment may include a managed network with a plurality of managed clients and one or more management servers. Each managed client may include a variety of devices such as a personal computers (PCs), servers, printers, modems, and other devices. An information technology (IT) administrator for the managed network may coordinate a variety of management and monitoring functions for the managed devices using a variety of hardware, firmware, and/or software products. One such function may include updating firmware on each managed client provided by a remote supplier.
To perform remote firmware updates, one conventional method may require the IT administrator to manually upload software to each managed client to permit receipt of the firmware update. For example, this may include uploading Alert Standard Format (ASF) instructions into flash memory on each managed client. This requires manual intervention by the IT administrator and results in an increase in overhead IT costs. Another conventional remote firmware update method may be to distribute the firmware update from the management server to each managed client without any cryptographic integrity protection. This makes such firmware updates vulnerable to attack from any variety of malicious software (malware) such as viruses, worms, replay attacks, etc.
Another conventional remote firmware update method may be to include digital signatures and strong encryption methods in an end-to-end process from the remote supplier to each managed client. Although providing for secure firmware updates, this method requires complex decryption at each managed client. This method may also require significant additional memory resources at each managed client which adds to the cost and power consumption of each managed client.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly.